


A Shot in the Dark

by kasunn



Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bucky has three sisters lmao, Cookies!!, First Date, Fluff, Hospitals, Like too many, M/M, Meet-Cute, No Angst, Steve is sick, and Animal Planet, bucky uses lots of pet names, clint and natasha like cooking shows, shameless flirting, vague mentions of bucky in the army, well more of a meet ugly but
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-27
Packaged: 2019-05-05 21:49:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14627718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kasunn/pseuds/kasunn
Summary: Bucky didn't know some idiot lying in the middle of the street would end up mattering so much to him.(In which Bucky almost runs Steve over with his car and offers to share his family when he finds out that no one is going to visit Steve in the hospital.)





	1. Crazy Equals Genius

**Author's Note:**

> Hey bros. This was supposed to be like a thousand words and then it grew and idk man. Was going to post this as a whole thing, but I'm sick, so I decided to split it. 
> 
> I would totally believe that Clint watches anime.
> 
> This is loosely based off a post I saw, but I forget what it said/where I saw it.

_ “You know, that Thai place Clint was talking about is actually really good. You should try it,”  _ Natasha says. She sounds like she’s eating something or distracted and Bucky’s not sure if he really wants to know, so he nods, shifting the phone on his shoulder as he illegally talks on the phone while driving which he wouldn’t be doing except for the fact that Natasha had said it was urgent. 

“Really,” Bucky hums, squinting in the dark. He’s on a random back road street he’d accidentally turned onto and surrounded by trees. There are no street lights, so he can’t see as much as he’d like to in the slowly dimming eve. 

_ “We can go after you get back. Where are you anyway?” _ Natasha asks. 

“Uh, somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Nat, I thought you said this was important,” Bucky says. “The trees are kind of freaking me out. I think-- shit!” Bucky swerves to the side, almost into the forest, when he sees…  _ something _ in the middle of the road. It’s too big to be the occasional bunny he sees as roadkill and it doesn’t look like it could be a deer since it’s not the right color. 

_ “Yasha? You okay?” _ Natasha asks, sounding a little concerned. 

“Uh,” Bucky murmurs, turning off his car and getting out, “I think there’s a… person-- laying in the middle of the road? I gotta go.” He hangs up before he hears Natasha’s response and hurries over to the body. 

The man is pale and kinda small, but he doesn’t look like he’s been recently hit or run over by a car since there’s no blood which makes Bucky’s heart stop beating so hard in his chest. He can deal with a passed out person though he’s not sure what a drunk person would be doing so far out in no-man’s-land.

“Hi,” Bucky starts, crouching down next to the man. “Are you okay? It’s not really safe to lay in the middle of the road.” He reaches out to brush his fingers over the man’s wrist, feeling for a pulse. There is one, but it’s faint and Bucky realizes that the man’s lips are bluer than is probably healthy. He shivers. It’s a pretty chilly night and Bucky’s not sure how long the guy’s been out here. 

“Is-- is there anyone I can call?” Bucky tries, putting a hand on the man’s shoulder. He runs through every single thing the basic first aid he’d been required to learn in the army taught him, but he can’t think of anything very useful. The man trembles a little under his palm but doesn’t move or make a sound otherwise and Bucky frowns. “Okay, I’m going to, uh, call an ambulance. Can you tell me your name? I’m Bucky, by the way. It’s a weird name, I know.”

He doesn’t get a response, but he hadn’t really expected one. Bucky sighs and makes the call, sitting next to the man, so no incoming cars can run over him while Bucky’s actually there. He doubts that any  _ will _ since Bucky hasn’t seen a car for the last hour.

The ambulance arrives quickly since Bucky had only been a couple miles from Brooklyn and the EMT tells him not to worry since he’s not physically injured, just sick with a bit of hypothermia and a mild case of pneumonia. 

“It’s alright, man. He’s a really sickly dude and I know him since he comes around the hospital a lot. Actually, he’s my friend Steve. He’s cool but wanders in dark places and I guess passes out in the middle of the street. Idiot.” Bucky feels like that’s not how you’re supposed to talk about a patient, but the dude says they’re friends, so he guess it’s okay. "Thanks for finding him."

“Can I… can I come visit him? Just to make sure he’s okay,” Bucky says, tilting his head. The EMT smiles at him with an odd look on his face. 

“You know, Steve probably wouldn’t mind that. Come around noon tomorrow. He’ll be up and about by then, but we’re going to keep him for around three days, so he’ll be bored out of his mind,” the EMT says. Bucky nods, putting a reminder into his phone before waving at the man. 

“See you later, Steve. See you later...dude,” Bucky says, awkwardly. “I actually don’t know your name. I’m Bucky.”

“It’s Sam,” the EMT says, smiling. “I’ll see you later, Bucky. We’ll be at the Brooklyn Hospital Center.”

***

The next day, Bucky paces around his apartment, anxious for noon to strike, so he has a reason to get out of the house. He doesn’t know why he’s so nervous, but, sue him, he’s never visited a guy he found in the street/almost ran over before. 

“Sooooo, what’s got your panties in a twist?” Natasha asks, munching on some chips she swiped from Bucky's counter. Bucky sighs, slumping onto the couch next to her. There’s a cooking show on— something with baskets and mystery ingredients— and he’s pretty sure that the only reason Natasha comes over is to watch his cable. 

“You know how I found a dude in the street?” Bucky asks.

Natasha shrugs. “Is that when you hung up on me last night? Because  _ rude, _ but also, it was really a person? Damn. That’s edgy.”

“Yeah, apparently he gets hospitalized a lot because the EMT knew him. I’m gonna visit him today.”

Natasha raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “The EMT? Was he really hot or…?”

“No, no the guy from the street. His name is Steve. I want to see how he’s doing because he looked half-dead when I found him,” Bucky says, waving his hands. “Sam said he’d be okay with it, but I don’t know if it’s weird, you know?”

Natasha shakes her head. “I don’t, but if  _ Sam _ said it was okay, then it’s probably fine.” She turns her attention back to the show and Bucky checks his watch, again, surprised to see that it’s a reasonable time to leave the apartment. 

“Hey, I’m going now. Lock the door when you leave,” Bucky says, gathering his stuff quickly and kissing Natasha on the cheek on his way out. He thinks he hears Natasha call, “Use protection!” after him, but he ignores her in favor of hailing a cab to the hospital. 

Interestingly enough, Sam is just getting in when Bucky arrives, presumably for his shift since he’s in uniform. 

“Oh, hey, Bucky. Didn’t think you’d show,” Sam says, grinning. “Steve was up a couple hours ago, complaining, so he’ll probably be right and dandy when you show up. He should be in room 604. You can just go in.” Sam waves Bucky through the doors and nods to the receptionist who lets Bucky just go on in. Bucky feels like there should be more security in a hospital since Bucky is technically just a random stranger and could be anyone.

He shrugs, heading up the six flights of stairs to find Steve’s room. When Bucky finds it, he pauses, wondering if he should knock or just go in or leave before Steve even sees his face because he’s starting to realize how creepy it is to show up like this.

“Are you looking for someone?” A doctor passing by asks. 

Bucky shakes his head. “Nah. I, uh, accidentally almost ran over Steve last night, so I wanted to come visit him. See how he’s doing.”

The doctor’s eyes widen. “You’re here to see  _ Steve? _ You sure?”

Bucky nods, frowning. “Why? Is that weird? Ah, I knew it was weird. Sorry, I can go, I just--”

“No, no,” the doctor says, shaking his head and smiling a little. “He just never gets any visitors but his friend Sam or one of my friends, so I was surprised is all. I’m Dr. Banner, by the way-- Bruce.”

“Nice to meet you, Bruce,” Bucky says, shaking the offered hand. Bruce looks a little panicked all of a sudden and there’s a message over the intercom. 

“ _ Dr. Banner to the second floor, please. Dr. Banner to the second floor.” _

Bruce sighs, smiling apologetically at Bucky. “Sorry, I gotta run, but just go inside. I’m sure Steve will be really happy that someone’s here for him.” With that, he runs off, almost bumping into at least five nurses who seem unalarmed at Bruce’s clumsiness. 

Bucky turns back to the door and huffs, mentally psyching himself up before pushing the door open. The room is brightly lit but kind of droopy. His eyes automatically land on Steve who’s sitting up in his bed and reading a book. It’s almost endearing but a little disheartening how his gown drowns him in fabric. He hadn’t seemed so small last night.

“Hey, Sam,” Steve greets, putting a bookmark to save his page before glancing up. “Oh, you’re not Sam. Are you looking for another room? Mrs. Carroway is next door and Carl was moved down the hall yesterday if you’re looking for either of them. I’m not allowed to get up, but  I’m sure one of the nurses could point you in the right direction.” He smiles pleasantly, face earnest like he’s eager to be of assistance.

Bucky finds it awfully sad that this beautiful person is so surprised to get any visitors but Sam that he actually tries to turn them away. He wonders what the story is there. It could also be that he’s never met Bucky before and it’s a reasonable assumption, but Bucky feels like there’s more to it.

“Uh, no. You’re Steve, right? Sam told me I could come visit. I’m Bucky, by the way. I found you laying in the middle of the road yesterday. Scared the hell out of me, darlin,” Bucky says, stepping closer. Steve furrows his brow and he sets his book to the side. 

“Huh, that’s nice of you. Sorry about that. I just wanted to go for a walk and then Sam was telling me how stupid I was. I think I heard you talking to me, but I don’t really remember,” Steve says, shrugging. 

“So you’re okay, then?” Bucky asks, hesitantly sitting at the chair next to Steve’s bed. Steve nods, rolling his eyes. 

“Yeah, everyone just overreacts when it’s me. I’m small, but I’m not, like, weak, you know?” Steve says and Bucky believes him even though the slightness of Steve’s frame tells him that he should think the opposite. He seems to have a sort of fire in him that everyone overlooks. 

“Yeah, I get it,” Bucky says, smiling. Steve raises an eyebrow but doesn’t ask and Bucky doesn’t offer.  “So what do you do all day in here? Or are you confined to the bed because that really sucks, pal.”

Steve scoffs. “Tell me about it. I end up here once or twice a month, at least, because I’m always sick. They always do the whole ‘it’s worse than we’d like it to be, Steve’ and then I get stuck here for days and they don’t let me walk around because everyone knows my face and it’s annoying as fuck.”

Bucky snorts. “I bet, sweets. Hey, is it weird that I came to visit? I thought it was, but Dr. Banner told me it was fine and so did Sam, so I just decided to do it.”

“I’m glad,” Steve says, nodding with conviction. “No one ever visits me. It’s nice to have someone besides Tony or Sam’s ugly mug.” His smile is soft, like a secret that he’s sharing with Bucky and Bucky only.

“What about your parents? Or did they just get tired of it after the first couple times?” Bucky asks, trying for a joke. Steve’s smile falters and he shakes his head, biting his lip.

“Nah, they’re, uh, gone. It’s fine. The med staff is pretty cool and they drop in occasionally, so I’m not lonely or anything,” Steve says in a tone that sounds an awful lot like someone pretending that they don’t have feelings. Bucky frowns, pausing for a moment. An idea pops into his head and it’s stupid and probably  _ not _ a good idea, but now it’s there and he can’t just  _ ignore _ it. 

Bucky tries to shove it down and ask about anything else, but instead he says, “How would you feel if I brought my family? I know it’s weird and you don’t know anything about me, but… I don’t know. I remember when I was in the hospital and having people around was nice. For the first few days. I hated it after a couple months, but you won’t be in here that long, huh, pal. We can share for a couple days.”

He looks down at the floor because that’s  _ way _ too much to drop on someone you just met, especially a sick someone you just met. Bucky hears a tiny sniffle and he looks up, startled when he sees Steve tearing up. He’s never been good with crying people, so he starts to panic.

“Ohhh my god, I’m so sorry. I, uh, I can leave? Or I can call a nurse. Doll, just tell me what’s wrong. I really don’t want to get arrested or something,” Bucky says, standing up and trying to figure what’s wrong. 

Steve holds up a hand and a choked laugh that sounds more like a sob than anything comes from his mouth. “No! No, it’s-- that’s probably the nicest thing anyone’s offered me since Ma died. Damn, Buck. At least take me on a date first before I meet the family.” Bucky doesn’t miss the way his name slips so easily out of Steve’s mouth and his heart skips a couple beats. It’s damn lucky that he’s in a hospital because he feels a bit like he’s dying. 

Steve is beautiful. 

Bucky opens and closes his mouth a couple times before chuckling and looking up at the ceiling. “Well, dollface, we aren’t exactly the most traditional, huh? I almost ran you over  _ before _ I knew you,” Bucky says, grinning. “And I dropped some heavy stuff two minutes after we met.”

Steve cocks his head to the side and his nose scrunches. Thankfully, he avoids said heavy stuff. “What’s with the nicknames? I don’t think you’ve called my by my name once, Bucky. And what kind of name is Bucky? Did your parents really name you that because I don’t know if I want to associate with those kinds of people.”

Bucky can’t help it. He throws his head back and practically cackles because Steve actually questioned the pet names and Bucky thinks he loves him. 

“Nah, my real name is James, but do you know how hard it is to be named ‘James’? It’s real hard. My parents saddled me with the middle name ‘Buchanan’ and my sister, Becca-- you’ll meet her tomorrow I guess--, decided that ‘Bucky’ was better,” he explains, winking at Steve. 

Steve blushes a pretty color and coughs lightly. “God, Bucky and Becca,” Steve mutters, shaking his head. “And the nicknames? I’ve literally never met anyone who’s called me ‘dollface’ before.”

“You’re so pretty, Stevie, you know that? Almost like a doll. You can tell me if I’m overstepping, though. I tend to just go for things without really thinking about it, so I’ll cool it if you ask. I just like the nicknames,” Bucky says, delighting in the way Steve’s face reddens anew. 

“It-- It’s fine,” Steve mumbles, wiping at his face. “I… you weren’t joking about bringing your family around, yeah?”

Bucky shrugs. “Well, I could be if you don’t want me to. I’m coming back everyday now that I know how sad and pathetic your existence is, though,” Bucky says, beaming when Steve rolls his eyes. 

“I mean, if you weren’t joking, then… I’d be down with it. It’s always fun to meet someone else’s family. Even a stranger’s, I guess,” Steve says and Bucky’s grin widens. 

“I’m going to bring my sister tomorrow. I think she’ll love you and she’s not so bad herself. Sam said you’re here for three days, so I can just bring my parents by then.” He winks at Steve and goes on. “Also, we’re hardly strangers, darlin. I made you cry, so that’s gotta to be at least, like, acquaintances,” Bucky points out. 

Steve snorts. “Yeah, whatever.”

***

“I hope you brought dinner, Bucky. How was your new friend? You were there for a long time,” Clint calls from where he’s seated on Bucky’s couch. He brought his dog, too, which Bucky raises his eyebrows at. 

“You know, my apartment building has a no pet policy. How’d you even get Lucky in?” Bucky asks, setting takeout bags on the table. He’s suspected that Clint and Natasha would be around when he got back, so he’d bought extra. 

“Through the window,” Clint says, hopping up with a little cheer when he spots the food. Bucky pauses at Clint’s response, but he doesn’t question it all that far since Clint always does a bunch of potentially dangerous/impossible things and Bucky has to choose his battles. 

“What was your new friend’s name, again? Steve?” Natasha asks. “You stayed away forever. I thought that having sex with patients wasn’t condoned…?”

Bucky groans and flips her off as she makes her way to the kitchen. “That-- no. He’s got pneumonia and-- ugh,  _ Nat _ .”

“So you want to,” Natasha says, smirking. “Is he cute? I bet he is. Oooh, that’s a bit naughty, Buck.”

Bucky huffs, blowing his hair out of his face. “You’re overreacting. Just-- eat. I’m going to call Becca.”

“Why are you calling Becca?” Natasha asks innocently, as Bucky walks out of the room and into his bedroom, away from prying eyes-- ears in this case. 

_ “Hey, brother. What’s up?” _ Becca asks. Bucky feels like it’s been too long since he’s heard his sister’s voice and he smiles. 

“Hey, darlin. What’s up yourself? I’m back from LA. You doing anything tomorrow?” Bucky asks, flopping back onto his bed. 

_ “Well, unlike you, I have a job, but school ends around two if none of my students feel like talking after. We can meet up then,”  _ she says. Bucky rolls his eyes at her jab about the job thing since they both know why he doesn’t have a job, but he lets out a breath of relief. He’s not sure why since he knew that Becca would probably call in sick for him if he needed her. 

(Bucky refuses to acknowledge the fact that if Becca  _ hadn’t _ been able to come, he probably would’ve disappointed Steve and he didn’t want to do that. Not at all.)

“Cool. Um, I made a new friend. Kinda,” Bucky says, the words odd in his mouth. It feels like something that a first grader would say, not a grown ass man.

Becca squeals nonetheless and Bucky can feel her excitement through the speaker.  _ “Hey! Good job, Buck. That’s awesome. Is it a friend or, like, a  _ friend _? Because I need to be prepared.” _

Bucky laughs awkwardly. “Well, I guess he’s not really my friend. Yet, anyway. I met him yesterday, almost ran over him. He’s in the hospital and-- it’s so sad, Beck. No one ever visits him and he’s lonely even though he acts like he isn’t, so I told him I’d share my family with him.”

The air is silent for a beat.  _ “Oh honey,” _ Becca murmurs.  _ “I-- of course you made a new friend like that. I don’t know why I’m surprised. That was nice of you, though.” _

“I feel like a five-year-old when you say that,” Bucky grumbles. “His name is Steve and he’s great, though. You’ll like him.”

Becca laughs.  _ “I bet. Your standards are  _ way _ high, dude. I’ll see you tomorrow. Pick you up at two-thirty?” _

Bucky nods before he realizes that Becca can’t see him. “Yeah, thanks, Becca.” She makes another amused sound and Bucky hangs up, rolling his eyes. He sits up, shuffling back into the kitchen where Clint and Natasha have spread out and opened all the boxes.

“What was that about?” Clint asks, shovelling fried rice into his mouth. Natasha smacks him on the shoulder and Clint rolls his eyes, swallowing pointedly before glancing back at Bucky. 

Bucky shrugs. “Steve doesn’t have many friends, I don’t think, so I’m going to bring my sister to visit.”

Natasha scrunches her nose. “That...sounds a bit fast, don’t you think? You met him yesterday,” she says, shaking her head. 

“No, he just-- I don’t know. It was a spur of the moment kind of thing,” Bucky says, shrugging. “He’s really nice and he deserves better from what I can tell.”

“You totally like him,” Natasha says, grinning. “Aww, Bucky. That’s so cute. I want to meet him. He sounds cute.” Bucky holds his tongue and doesn’t start on about how  _ cute _ Steve is, instead asking about what they did at his apartment all day. Apparently they hadn’t done anything, but watch their cooking shows the whole time.

“Why,” Bucky says after Clint finishes talking about how a girl in  _ Chopped _ almost cut her finger off and just kept cooking. 

“It’s so interesting,” Clint says, nodding and eating an eggroll messily. Lucky eats Clint’s dropped food from the ground and Bucky sighs. “You should join us one day. It’s so much more fun when there’s more people. We can get hyped. You can invite Steve, too. I bet he likes cooking shows.”

“I like cooking shows,” Bucky says, pouting. 

Clint smirks. “Knew it. You’re so  _ tsundere _ and crap.” Bucky furrows his brow and Clint waves a dismissive hand. “Never mind. You can ask him about it tomorrow.”

***

“Hey, dollface,” Bucky says, sweeping into the room without hesitation unlike the day before. He feels like he’s been there a thousand times, not just once, and he wonders if that’s normal or just another of his weird things.

“Buck, are you sure you should be--” Becca starts, trailing after him. She stops when Bucky tugs her inside the room, her eyes widening. Steve is sleeping and Sam is there, rolling his eyes so hard that Bucky’s pretty sure they’ll be stuck that way. 

“Oh, hey, Sam.”

“Already with the sweet names, huh,” Sam says, shaking his head. “I gotta say, you work fast, Bucky.” Bucky winks at him and notices that Sam is in his work clothes. 

“You heading out?” Bucky asks, tilting his head to the side. 

Sam raises an eyebrow. “So eager to be alone, I see.” He peeks around Bucky and looks to Becca. “Well, not alone, I guess. Your sister?”

Becca steps forward with a bright smile. “Becca Barnes Proctor,” she says, putting out a hand. “Nice to meet you. Sam, is it?”

Sam nods, shaking her hand before shoving his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, good to meet you. I gotta go, but Steve’s been in a nice mood since yesterday, so I guess you visiting didn’t hurt, Proctor.” He nods as he leaves, shutting the door behind him. 

“My last name is Barnes,” Bucky mumbles at the closed door.

“Your last name is Barnes?” Steve asks, popping up. 

Bucky jumps back, startled. “Hello to you too, punk,” Bucky says, dragging another chair up to Steve’s bedside and making Becca sit down. “This is my sister, Becca. She’s a couple years younger than me, but she acts like she’s ten years older.”

Becca scowls. “ _ Rude _ ,” she murmurs, flicking him in the arm. Bucky grins. 

“And this is Steve,” Bucky continues, gesturing vaguely. Steve waves a hand and huffs. 

“So, back to the point-- your last name is Barnes. You name is literally Bucky Barnes and you’ve got a sister named Becca Barnes,” Steve says, shaking his head. “The world hates you.”

Bucky crosses his arms. “Well,  _ I _ quite like my name. Plus,  _ Bruce Banner _ is a doctor that knows you and has his name announced over an intercom almost everyday so…”

Steve snorts. “Fine, fine. You sure Becca’s younger than you, though? She’s, like, way mature.”

“Ooh, I like him,” Becca says, nudging Bucky in the side. Bucky huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Ganging up against me already, I see. I can go, I mean, Becca drove me here, but I can get a cab. Maybe Sam will drive me home,” Bucky says, starting to stand. Steve gives him a pointed look and Bucky sits his ass back down. “Okay, nevermind. I’ll stay. Just for you, sweetface.”

For the first time of the day, Steve blushes and Becca grins. “You were so right, Buck.”

“I know, I’m always right,” Bucky says with a pleased smile. “About what, though?” Becca rolls her eyes and shakes her head. 

“He’s pretty.”

Steve starts to laugh when a light blush dusts across Bucky’s cheeks. “I-I never said that, Becks,” Bucky says.

She raises an eyebrow. “You totally implied it, though.”

“And you said it yesterday,” Steve comments, munching on something he’d just pulled out of thin air. Becca turns to Bucky and smirks, holding her hand out. Steve slaps it without missing a beat, then sticks some chips in it and Bucky thinks it’s a little sad that this is the happiest he’s felt in a while. 

“What do you do, Becca? Bucky didn’t tell me a single thing about you. Actually, I don’t know a single thing about him, either, but he promised to come everyday, so we got time,” Steve says, grinning cheekily. 

Becca starts to talk about her job as a high school teacher and how she hates the pay but loves the job even if she still kind of looks like a high school student herself. Steve meets her stride for stride and talks about how he’s an artist. Bucky learns a lot more about Steve than he thought he would and it’s nice. Steve is nice. Bucky gets a little lost staring at Steve’s hands as they gesture when he talks.

“Do you have any other siblings?” Steve asks, snapping Bucky out of his reverie. 

“Oh, yeah, we’ve got a couple younger sisters-- the twins Marie and Anna,” Bucky says. “They’re a lot younger, though, like, eight.”

Steve’s face twists oddly after a moment. Bucky realizes why when he says, “Your parents named your twin sisters Marie and Anna which together can make a full name. That’s…”

Bucky shrugs, chuckling. What is it with Steve and  _ names _ ? “Darlin, I don’t know. I think they were only expecting one of them, but I was, uh, not there during that. Hey, Becks, who do you think picked their names?”

Becca grins. “I did. I was fifteen, so I thought it was cute.”

Steve groans into his hands. “It’s genetic. The Barnes family is officially horrible at picking names.”

“You don’t even know what I’d name a kid,” Bucky says, a slight pout on his lips. 

“Well I know that you haven’t called me ‘Steve’ once since we’ve met,” Steve retorts. Becca giggles and pats Bucky on the shoulder. Steve’s face takes on a fond look. 

“I wish I had siblings. It was just me and my mom when I was younger and then just me. I guess now it’s me and Sam, but I think there’s something cool about having a guaranteed friend all your life,” Steve says, cocking his head to the side and smiling lopsidedly. 

Bucky nods. “Eh, yeah, I guess she’s alright,” Bucky says, laughing when Becca smacks him on the shoulder. 

“Ah,” Becca says, checking her phone, “Mom wants me to get home and watch the girls. It’s time for their dinner date or something.”

Bucky’s eyes widen as he looks to the time and sees that almost four hours have passed since they got to Steve’s room. 

“Damn,” Bucky says. “Uh, do you want me to come with? I haven’t seen them in a while.”

Becca shakes her head, smiling kindly. “Nah, I got it. We’re having a girls night,” she laughs, winking at Steve. Bucky hears what she doesn’t say and his heart breaks a little. 

After high school, he joined the army and four years later, he was back, down an arm and up a Natasha, a Clint and a hell of a lot of baggage. Bucky gets why he doesn’t see Anna or Marie nearly as much as he’d like to. His parents didn’t trust him around the then four year olds and neither did he because he knew what would happen if one of the girls surprised him or touched him without telling him first. 

Really, he’d only known them in the last two years after Stark got him an arm and Bucky got a little better with handling shit. He  _ gets  _ it. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. 

“Oh okay,” Bucky says, flashing her a smile. “I’ll see you later?”

Becca runs a hand through his unruly hair and smiles. “‘Course, Buck.”

Bucky glances at Steve and hums. “Oh hey, if you catch them on the way out, can you ask if they all want to come visit Steve tomorrow?”

Steve frowns. “I thought you were only bringing Becca.”

“Well, I guess if you don’t want me to,” Bucky says, grinning, “but Beck isn’t my entire family, yeah? I told you I was sharing mine and I meant all of it, darlin.”

Steve makes a little noise in his throat and he ducks his head down. “If they’re okay with visiting a stranger in a hospital, I don’t see why not.” Becca cheers and waves goodbye. 

“See you tomorrow, Steve,” she chirps, hurrying out.

Steve tilts his head to the side. “They’re pretty young, though, the twins. You’re, what, twenty years older than them?”

Bucky nods. “Yeah. My mom had them when I was nineteen. Only known em, like, two years, but they seem like good kids. I might be a little biased saying so.”

Steve bites at his bottom lip. “Why’s that?”

Bucky shrugs, not pretending he doesn’t know what Steve’s asking about. “Army. Went away for four years, got fucked, came back and didn’t meet the twins until they were six. It’s cool, though.” 

Steve’s eyes widen. “You were in the army? So yesterday when you said you… understood what it’s like to be seen as weak...?”

Bucky chuckles because he was expecting that. Not so soon, but Steve’s not too shy. “Mhm,” Bucky says, taking the glove off his left hand to wiggle silver fingers at Steve. “It’s cool, yeah? Tony Stark took me on as his pet project and gave me this baby. It goes all the way up to my shoulder and I’ve got a neat star though I’m pretty sure it’s because Tony thinks I’m a commie. Can barely tell the difference anymore.” 

That’s true. Before when he’d first gotten it all hooked up, the arm hurt like hell and felt weird and foreign and he hated it, but it’s pretty useful for blending and holding stuff and Bucky got used to it. It’s nice having a person like Tony Stark around, too. 

“Oh,” Steve breathes. He looks sad and Bucky wants to erase the last five minutes because he doesn’t want to see Steve sad. “I— you cant even tell. I guess that’s just how Tony is, but that’s pretty awesome. Not losing an arm. That’s not cool. Um, but the arm Tony made. He told me about it, but I never thought I’d get to see it.”

Bucky raises an eyebrow. “You know Tony Stark? That’s… unexpected.”

Steve snorts. “Yeah I don’t really seem the type. He’s cool, pretty much the only other person who visits me besides Sam and Bruce. Bruce has to, though, and Sam works here.”

Bucky nods. “I’ll come visit,” he says, smiling. “Not that I want you in the hospital again, but, doll, I’ve heard from more than one person that you come here often.”

“Sounds like a bad pick up line,” Steve says, shifting on the bed. 

Bucky leans back in his chair and cocks his head. “You know, I haven’t seen many nurses come by your room. Like I stayed for almost six hours yesterday and I was only asked to leave twice.”

Steve glances at the time and hums. “The nurses are excited that I have someone that’s not Sam coming to visit me. They don’t want to scare you away,” Steve says, snickering. “Wanna go for a walk? The roof garden is nice this time of night.”

Bucky snorts. “You’ve got pneumonia, Stevie. I’m not going to be responsible if we go up there and just die on me.”

“It’s only a mild case! They’re overreacting,” Steve protests. “We could just go around the halls then. Let the nurses gawk at you.”

“Yeah, I know I look like I’m in a street gang. Don’t gotta rub it in my face, honey,” Bucky scoffs, rolling his eyes. “You’re allowed to walk around, though?” Steve nods and swings his legs off the bed, sliding his feet into cute bunny slippers that Bucky’s sure Steve didn’t buy for himself.

“Not that. The long hair is nice, looks good on you. They’ll be looking because there’s no such thing as eye candy around here and sure as hell not with me.”

“Aw, Sam’s not that bad,” Bucky says, winking. Steve rolls his eyes, tripping and latching onto Bucky’s right arm to steady himself. “You alright?”

Steve waves him off, grabbing onto his IV pole and dragging it across the floor with him. “It’s fine. Let’s go. We can visit Bruce.”

Contrary to what Bucky had thought would be, Steve is stable on his feet and walks confidently through the halls, as if he’s not in an ill-fitting hospital gown. He lets Steve lead and they find Bruce sitting at a nurses’ station, eating a donut. 

“Oh, hi,” he says, eyes wide. He shoves the rest of his donut into his mouth and hunts around for a napkin because there’s sugar all over his face. Bucky finds it kind of endearing and Steve’s got an amused smile on his face that tells Bucky he feels the same.

“Hey, Bruce,” Steve says, leaning on the counter. “You’ve met Bucky, right?” 

Bruce nods. “Uh, yeah, yesterday. He’s cool. And he visited you. That’s cool. He came back today. Very cool.”

Steve gives him a reassuring smile that Bruce seems to need. “Wanna walk? Or are you busy?” 

“I actually have a thing in a couple minutes. Sam says they’re coming back with a bunch of, ah, car accident… I need to x-ray,” Bruce says, smiling awkwardly. “Oh wait, I probably shouldn’t have told you that. Um… pretend I didnt.”

Steve grins. “Didn’t hear a thing. Tell Sam to come by when he’s done? He’s off shift by then, right?”

“Yeah, yeah, I can do that,” Bruce says, jumping slightly and pulling out his pager. “Ah, gotta run. I’ll see you later, guys.” 

“We can go visit Peggy, now,” Steve says, tugging Bucky into another direction. Bucky thinks it’s another nurse or doctor, but Peggy ends up being an old volunteer woman who helps with the kids in the cancer ward. She had been friends with Steve’s mom, apparently, and was a bit like family, but she doesn’t visit all that often, so Steve has to find her.

“Oh, hey Steve,” Peggy says. Her accent is pleasant and her smile is bright even if her hair is drawn back into a tight bun and her face is a bit severe. Bucky sees why Steve likes her. They hang out with Peggy for a half hour until Steve gets tired and they find their way back to Steve’s room.

“Why were you laying in the middle of the road, anyway?” Bucky asks, curious. He’s been wondering since he found Steve, but he had kind of forgotten about it, wrapped up in, well,  _ Steve _ . 

Steve shrugs, lips curling up slightly in a smile. “I was bored, so I went for a walk. I thought I was laying somewhere safe and the stars were really nice, but then I guess I passed out. Haven't you heard that crazy equals genius?” Bucky arches an eyebrow and flicks Steve in the shoulder.

“I don't think that's a saying. You're just kind of stupid,” he murmurs, wondering what would’ve happened if no one had come along that road that night. Nothing good, obviously, but it hurts to think that maybe Bucky never would’ve met Steve considering how close he feels to the guy after a couple days.

“You know, visiting hours end in fifteen minutes,” Steve says and Bucky frowns because he could’ve sworn it’s only been a couple minutes since Becca left.

“You tryna get rid of me?” Bucky asks, teasing. 

Steve huffs. “Yep. Barnes, you’re annoying as fuck. I’ve been trying to think of a reason to get you out all day.”

Bucky grins and wiggles his eyebrows. “Don’t even try to fool yourself, pal. See you tomorrow?”

“I’ll be here. Bye, Bucky,” Steve says, a hint of a smile on his lips.

 


	2. Ice Cream Cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More fluff and meeting the family and Bucky gets his shit together. No mentions of ice cream cake, but there are cookies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! I’m sorry This took so fucking long. Forgot about exams and such lol. I hope you like this last bit!
> 
> (Also sorry for any mistakes. I posted this on my phone and anything wonky I probably didn’t catch)

Turns out that he doesn’t see Steve tomorrow or the next day. It’s a good thing that his parents had told him that the twins were busy with school, otherwise they would’ve been dragged to the hospital for nothing.

“Oh he’s fine,” Bruce says, trying to wave off Bucky’s concern. It doesn’t work. “He had to be moved to the ICU because his pneumonia tried to kill him overnight, but he always pushes through. No visitors, but I’ll tell him you dropped by. He should be out of there after tomorrow.”

Bucky nods and stuffs his hands in his pockets to hide the way he’s fidgeting. “Can you call me if I leave my number here?”

Bruce smiles, shrugging. “Uh, yeah. I’ll give it to Steve.” Bucky nods in thanks and writes his number on a slip of paper before handing it over to Bruce. “Bye,” Bruce says and Bucky waves, ducking his head and walking back home.

“We can watch cooking shows all day today. I’m yours,” Bucky says, slamming the door behind him. Clint cheers and runs off, screaming about popcorn. Lucky isn’t around, but Clint had mentioned something about him having doggy yoga. Whatever that means.

“Stevie didn’t want to play today?” Natasha asks, smirking. Bucky shakes his head, slumping onto the couch next to her. They’ve got The Great British Baking Show on.

“He’s in the ICU, so no visitors today. I’ll see him whenever he gets out. Gave them my number, so they can call me or something,” Bucky says, smiling to himself.

“Who’s ‘Stevie’?” Tony asks, strolling into the living room. Bucky jumps a little because Tony hadn’t been there when he left.

“Uh, hey, Tony,” Bucky says, scooting over, so Tony can fit on the couch between he and Natasha. Sometimes Bucky feels like he runs a daycare since there’s always someone just dropping by without warning and screaming of some sort. He supposes it’s better than the silence.

“Steve is Bucky’s new boytoy,” Natasha offers.

“Bucky has a boytoy?” Tony asks, intrigued. Bucky rolls his eyes. He hadn’t had a ‘boytoy’ since ever, so he’s not sure where Natasha got that idea.

“I almost ran him over. He was lying in the street, so I called an ambulance and I’ve been visiting him in the hospital,” Bucky says, glaring at Natasha. “He’s lonely, but I like him.”

Tony’s brow furrows. “Steve, hmm? Like Steve Rogers?” Bucky pauses. He’s actually not sure what Steve’s last name is and it bothers him.

“I don’t know,” Bucky says, shrugging. “He’s blonde and tiny with way too much spunk.”

Tony’s face lights up and he starts beaming. “Hey! You’re friends with Capsicle. Love that guy. I’m so proud of him. Why was he in the road, though?”

“Who knows,” Bucky snorts, shaking his head. “He seems a little self-destructive.”

“Buck’s sharing his family with him,” Clint chirps, throwing himself across the three of their laps. “I think it’s cute.”

“That is pretty cute. Wanna share your family with me?” Tony asks, leaning onto Bucky’s shoulder. It’s his metal one which startles Tony and Tony’s eyes light up, automatically reaching for Bucky’s loose sleeve to push it up. “Oh, my baby. Still beautiful. You’re going to need to come in soon. She needs a tune up.”

He’s not sure how he feels about Tony gendering his arm, but Bucky is glad that the sensors on the arm aren’t super sensitive because he’s not sure he wants to feel the way Tony is stroking it reverently. “Did you show Steve? He was really excited about our project.”

“I did,” Bucky says. “He loved it.” Natasha gives Bucky a shocked look and Bucky shrugs. There’s a reason Bucky wears a glove when he goes out. He’s not fond of just showing off his arm to anyone like Tony wishes he was, so they all know how big of a deal that is to him.

“Proud of you, man,” Clint says, reaching up and patting Bucky’s jaw.

Bucky grins around the bubbling anxiety he feels. “I know right? All by myself, too. I’m awesome.” He is proud of himself because Steve touched his metal hand and he didn’t freak out. He doesn’t think Becca has ever seen it for longer than a moment, let alone a complete stranger. Well, maybe not a stranger anymore. There’s just something about Steve and how he talks and how he holds himself that makes him inherently trustworthy— good.

“What’re you going to do now? You have nothing on schedule for at least two days,” Tony says. “Steve gets sick and it gets bad fast. I don’t know how he’s still alive.”

Bucky shrugs. “He’s strong.”

“Oh boy. You like him,” Natasha says, shaking her head. Tony stops stroking Bucky’s arm and he sits up straight.

“You like guys?” He asks, sounding more shocked than Bucky appreciates.

“You’ve never seen me with anyone. Don’t be so judgy, Stark,” Bucky says, scowling. “And I don’t like him if we’re going to be using middle school terms. He’s just. Nice.”

Natasha rolls her eyes and sighs, changing the channel to Animal Planet. “This is going to be a long two days.”

***

Bucky has only recently trained himself out of waking up early, so he’s annoyed when his phone starts ringing, startling him up at six in the morning for no goddamn reason. He fumbles around the nightstand for it and answers the call without looking at who it is. Only a couple people call him anyway.

“‘Ello?” Bucky grunts into the phone. “If this is Clint, I’m going to fucking murder you.”

“Someone’s not a morning person,” a voice answers. One that is definitely not Clint.

“Shit, who is this?” Bucky asks, pulling the phone from his ear and squinting at the screen.

“This is Bucky Barnes, yeah? Nickname extraordinaire?”

Bucky’s eyes widen and he forces down his panic. “Stevie? How’d you-- how are you? I ran into Bruce and he said you were in the ICU.”

Steve laughs and it’s music to Bucky’s ears. “Yeah, I’m out now, though. Did you miss me?”

“Sure, honey bunches,” Bucky drawls. “It’s only been three days, but I was starting to think you wouldn’t call.” Not that Bucky had been, like, waiting next to the phone or anything for Steve’s call, but he doesn’t do much other than work out, hang out with his few friends when they’ve got time, and bake, occasionally.

“Nah. I was just dying, no big. Are you coming today? I mean, I guess if you’re not busy. I know you only promised those three days and Bruce told me that you dropped by,” Steve says, sounding unsure all of a sudden.

“Darlin, I’ve always got time for you,” Bucky says, rolling out of bed and throwing on some jeans and a t-shirt. “What time do visiting hours open?”

“Eight, I think,” Steve says. Cheeky bastard, waking him up at six in the morning. “You could probably charm them into letting you up early, though. I’m in the same room. Make it your stupid thing of the day.”

Bucky’s at the hospital before he even thinks about moving and he paces in the parking lot before he decides to go to the nearby grocery store and buy flowers, a real bouquet for the nurse at the desk and a fake one for Steve since he’s pretty sure the pollen wouldn’t be great for Steve’s lungs.

“Hey, sweets,” Bucky says, flashing a bright smile at the woman at the desk. Her name is Sharon and Bucky’s eighty percent sure she hates him, but he knows she loves Steve. She’s terrifying.

“Hello, James. Those for me?” Sharon asks, nodding to the flowers. Bucky’s not even sure how she got his real name. Bucky nods and hands her the bouquet.

“Can I—?”

Sharon sighs. “I didn’t let you up. I was in the bathroom,” she says, walking off with her flowers, presumably to find a vase. Bucky fistpumps the air and takes the stairs two at a time to the sixth floor.

“Hey, babycakes,” Bucky greets. Steve looks at him and wrinkles his nose.

“No. I don’t like that one. Please never use it again,” Steve says, shaking his head like he’s disappointed.

Bucky groans. “But doll,” Bucky protests, pouting. Steve raises an eyebrow and Bucky waves a hand. “Fine. I got you flowers, by the way. Noticed you didn’t have anything around.”

Steve cocks his head. “And why do you think that is?” Bucky suddenly feels awfully guilty, but Steve is laughing it off in the next second.

“I think you’re the first person to do that ever so thanks, Buck,” Steve says, sounding raw and genuine. Bucky nods, handing over the flowers and sinking into his chair.

“Glad you’re okay,” Bucky says, smiling gently. Steve’s eyes soften and he shrugs.

“No big deal, I told you. I’m not great at being healthy, but I’m on new antibiotics,” Steve says with the tone of someone resigned to spending half his life in a hospital. “What’d you do while I was out? I’ve realized that you never seem to have anything else to do on the days you visit. Today you basically rolled out of bed and came straight here.”

Bucky winces. “Ah, well, I don’t have a job, so I’m free most of the time. I usually watch tv or run. Sometimes I bake. Actually, are you allergic to anything?”

“Just almonds, oranges and barbecue sauce,” Steve says. Bucky’s face twists in surprise.

“That’s so specific,” Bucky comments. “Well, in any case, it’s good, I guess, since none of those are in chocolate chip cookies. Can I bring you some tomorrow?”

“Why is that even a question?” Steve laughs. “Duh. I’m always down for sweets, Buck. Just don’t tell Sharon because she’ll say no.”

Bucky cocks an eyebrow. “I’m thinking that maybe I shouldn’t bring you cookies.”

Steve reaches out and puts his hands on Bucky’s shoulders, batting his eyelashes in an extremely distracting manner. “Please bring me cookies, Bucky. I’ve eaten hospital food for the past week.”

“Since you asked so nicely,” Bucky says, wryly. “Are you alright with the twins coming tomorrow or is that too much family? It could just be me again.”

“I haven’t had family for ten years. You promised, so you gotta share,” Steve says, grinning. “I hope I didn’t cause them too much trouble when you couldn’t even come to see me on Wednesday.”

Bucky shakes his head. “Nah, they had school. I forgot, so I just came myself. They seemed excited. The girls like meeting new people. They’re pretty excitable, though, so I’m not sure if you’re up for that?”

Steve rolls his eyes. “You’ve never seen me out of this bed, Buck, but I can handle excitable. I hang out with elementary schoolers all day.”

“I thought you did art?” Bucky asks, tilting his head to the side.

Steve scoffs. “You think I can’t do art with those kids? That’s awfully ageist of you, Barnes,” Steve chides, wagging a finger. “And you’re right. I’m an artist, but doing that alone doesn’t make a lot of money, so the teaching is an alright compromise.”

“Damn,” Bucky whistles, thinking he admires Steve just a little bit more now.

***

“Hey, Mom,” Bucky says, putting her on speaker as he starts on the cookie dough for Steve.

“Hey, Jamie. How are you?” Winifred asks. Bucky can hear something clatter in the background and the tell-tale high pitched laughter of one of the twins.

Bucky smiles. “I’m good. Hey, uh, you know a couple days ago when Beck asked if you could come meet my new friend?”

“Yep. Sorry we couldn’t, but tomorrow’s Saturday, so we could if they still want,” Winifred hums. “What’s so special about this friend? Are you seeing someone, Jamie?” Her voice turns excited and Bucky bites back a sigh because he knows how bad his mother wants him to be happy, but for some reason that can’t happen without him finding a girlfriend (or boyfriend. They’re cool with that, too, but Bucky thinks that honestly it’s just that Bucky had been half-dead and wrapped in gauze when he came out to them. Sort of throws the focus elsewhere and makes liking guys and girls insignificant in comparison).

“Nope, he’s just my friend,” Bucky says, popping the ‘p’. “His name is Steve and I offered up my family to him, said we could share since he doesn’t have any.”

His mother gasps and Bucky mentally facepalms. “It’s alright, Ma. He’s fine, but I thought it’d be nice if you and Dad and the girls could come visit. He’s an elementary school teacher, so he likes kids.”

“That’s sweet of you, honey. Of course, we’ll come. Where should we meet you?”

Bucky sighs, forgetting that visiting a stranger in the hospital is a little odd. “Um, Brooklyn Hospital Center?”

“...Jamie?” Winifred starts, carefully. “Is your friend...okay?”

Bucky coughs, awkwardly, folding chocolate chips into his dough. “Yeah, he’s fine. See you tomorrow!”

***

Bucky makes enough cookies to feed an army which is good because Clint has some sort of cookie sensor (or Tony installed cameras into his apartment) and he and Tony both show up at eight in the morning for cookies. He knows them pretty well, so he’d prepared for that and packed a separate box for Sam, Steve and his family.

“These are beautiful,” Clint says through a mouthful of chocolate and sugar. “Why don’t you bake more often?”

Bucky makes a noise barely decipherable as a language and Clint nods like he understands. “I get it. Yeah, that’s why Lucky isn’t allowed at the archery range anymore.” Bucky thinks that maybe Clint doesn’t actually get it.

“Is there crack in this? You made these for Steve, didn’t you? Drugging a patient who’s already on a bunch of drugs isn’t very...morally correct. I think,” Tony says, staring at the cookie in wonder.

“Like you’re someone to say what’s morally correct,” Bucky scoffs, shaking his head at Tony. Tony shrugs, stuffing another cookie into his mouth. Bucky checks his phone and sees that his dad texted him to ask where he is and his gaze snaps to the time. “Time for me to go. Save a couple for Nat, yeah?”

>> hey doll we’re heading over now   
>> fair warning I made lots of cookies so sugar rush is a sure thing

<< damn Barnes you drive a hard bargain  
<< come quickly! Sam is trying to smother me!!!

Bucky rolls his eyes and pockets his phone as he leaves the building. Texting with Steve is actually extremely fun. He seems even more sarcastic and quirky than he is when talking to him face to face and Bucky enjoys it immensely. Plus, he doesn’t have anything better to do, so he’ll respond right away and hold a conversation for a long time which is great because Bucky doesn’t know what he’s accomplishing in life, currently.

“Are these yours?” Sam asks, jumping up from where he’d been sitting when he sees Bucky heading up the walk. Bucky raises an eyebrow in question before seeing Anna and Marie running through the grass behind him.

Bucky snorts at the way Sam said ‘these’ and nods. “Yep, my little sisters. Hey, kiddos,” Bucky calls. They turn towards him in unison and squeal excitedly.

“Jamie!” Marie yells, barrelling head first into his stomach. Bucky almost drops the cookies in his left hand because damn, that girl is strong. Anna comes just a second later and grabs his free arm, jumping up and down excitedly.

“Mama says we’re meeting your friend. We’ve never met one of your friends. Is he nice? Why is he in the hospital? I bet he’s pretty. Mama said you think he’s pretty,” Anna says, only stopping when she sees the cookies in his hand. “Wait, can we have some?”

Bucky smiles lopsidedly. “I don’t know. Are you going to share?” Anna nods enthusiastically and Bucky hands her the container.

“Hey, Uncle Sam, do you want one?” Anna calls, trotting over to Sam with Marie right behind her. Anna’s always been the more outgoing one, as far as Bucky can tell, but he’s surprised that she feels comfortable enough to give Sam an actual title.

“‘Uncle’?” Bucky asks, lips curling into a smirk. Sam flips him off over Marie and Anna’s heads and Bucky rolls his eyes.

“James, nice to see you. I thought I heard the girls,” Bucky hears and he looks up to see his father standing in the automatic doors of the hospital.

“Hey,” Bucky says, raising a hand as George walks closer. His father hugs him and Bucky pats him on the back. “How long have you guys been here?”

“Only about fifteen minutes, sweetheart,” Winifred says from behind Bucky. “I just had to get this from the car and we ran into your friend Sam, here, when we realized we didn’t actually know anything about your friend.” She’s holding a small basket of chocolate covered fruit and Bucky bites back a grin at how Steve would probably wait until everyone’s gone before eating it all in one sitting.

“Ah, sorry you had to wait,” Bucky says, kissing his mom on the cheek. “I made cookies if any of you want one. Anna’s got them, I think.”

He hears a shriek of delight and turns to see Sam with pigeons and other birds Bucky doesn’t quite recognize just flocking around his feet. Sam looks vaguely embarrassed but almost as excited as Anna and Marie are.

“Jamie, Jamie, look!” Marie says, giggling and pointing at the birds.

“I dropped a cookie,” Sam says in explanation. He sighs a little at the pigeons crowding around him. “They’re desperate rats and I hate that I just fed them.”

Bucky grins. “Whatever you say, Birdman.” Anna and Marie start dancing in circles around Sam chanting ‘Birdman, Birdman!’ and Sam takes on a defeated look which makes Bucky’s smirk widen.

“I could totally ban you from seeing Steve, dude,” Sam says, shaking his head. “In fact, I’m starting to think you’re a bad influence.” Anna hands him another cookie and Sam thanks her, stuffing it into his mouth before he’s attacked by the flying rodents. “Holy sh-- crap, nevermind. You can stay. Are you single? I think I could marry you just for these.”

“In your dreams, Birdman. I’m just glad you didn’t kill Steve since he was complaining over text.” Sam raises an intrigued eyebrow and Bucky avoids the implied question.

“Later, dude.” Bucky rolls his eyes and waves to Sam as he leads his family into the building. In the elevator, he takes the box of cookies away from the twins because they’re practically bouncing off the walls and he’s pretty sure that they’ve eaten at least half of the box which is worrying since there had been at least twenty cookies before. (Hey, nothing wrong with being prepared.)

“Okay,” Bucky starts, crouching down, so he and his sisters are on even playing field, “Steve’s got pneumonia, but he’s almost better. We can’t touch anything in the room except the chairs, though, yeah?” They nod and he grins at them, patting both their heads. “Awesome.”

Bucky knocks for the first time since visiting Steve and Steve sounds confused when a faint, “Come in,” floats through the door.

“Hi there, pal,” Bucky says, walking in and setting the cookies in Steve’s lap straightaway. “You ready for some second graders?”

Steve snorts. “Obviously. Are they identical?” Anna and Marie skip over and Steve gasps, mouth widening into a bright, pleased smile. “Oh my gosh, they are. Such good genes. What a blessing.”

Bucky takes a twin in each hand and raises them as he introduces them. “This is Anna,” he starts, “and this is Marie. They’re easy to tell apart if you’re worried.”

“They’re not wearing the same thing,” Steve points out, glancing curiously between the two girls. “Hello. I’m Steve.” He puts out a hand and Anna shakes it hesitantly.

“Hi,” Anna says shyly, interestingly enough. Bucky grins and nudges Marie closer.

“Wanna go say hi?” Bucky asks. Marie waves from behind his leg and runs to hop up on a chair, Anna joining her right after.

“Good to meet you, Steve. I’m George,” Bucky’s father says, stepping up. Steve smiles brightly.

“You too. Thanks for coming. It means a lot to me,” Steve says, eyes shining. Bucky thinks that maybe if he and Steve were alone, he’d give Steve a hug. He really wants to.

Winifred smiles kindly and gives Bucky an approving look. “Aww, sweetheart. Don’t thank us. We’re just glad Jamie has a friend besides his army buddies.”

Steve’s eyes widen and he looks to Bucky. “Jamie is probably one of my favorite people now because he’s visited me everyday and brought me cookies.” Bucky fixes Steve with a dirty glare and Steve shrugs, opening the box and plucking a cookie out. He could lie and say he didn’t, but Bucky totally watched Steve’s mouth the entire time. Literally, sue him-- Steve’s a beautiful human that Bucky doesn’t really understand at all, but he’d be willing to try. So willing.

And there we go dipping into Creeperville, Bucky thinks as Steve makes a pleased sound and licks a crumb from his bottom lip.

“These are so good, Bucky,” Steve says sounding shocked. “You go to culinary school or something overseas?”

Bucky rolls his eyes. “I just like to bake. Glad you like them, dollface.” Steve eats another cookie and nods his head.

“If I marry you, do I get to boss you around and make you bake me cookies all the time? Because that sounds like a good deal,” Steve says, humming happily. Bucky wills away his blush at Steve’s wording, but Steve’s attention is on Anna and Marie.

“Kiddies, you have no clue how awesome you’ve got it with Bucky as your big bro,” Steve whispers, semi-conspiratorially. He winks at Bucky’s parents and grins at the girls and fuck, Steve’s making it real hard not to love him just a little bit more.

Wait-- love? A little more? Fuuuck.

“Jamie’s awesome!” Anna cheers, fist pumping the air. Marie copies her and they share twin smiles. Steve makes a noise Bucky can’t decipher the meaning of, but he breaks into a wide smile and Bucky guesses that it’s a good thing.

“Jamie is awesome,” Steve agrees, setting the box on the tray of his bed. Bucky glances at his parents and nods towards the extra chair, telling them to sit. He goes off to find another chair or two and comes back to Steve and the twins wrapped in an invigorating conversation about the life cycle of butterflies. Bucky smiles to himself and leans back against the wall next to the door, an observer.

Steve’s good at talking to people or maybe he just has a lot to say because Bucky gets the feeling that he doesn’t talk to many people who don’t already know everything about him. He gets along with Bucky’s parents and Bucky’s mother shoots Bucky more than one amused look which Bucky scowls at.

“I’m hungry,” Anna says a couple minutes after noon. Bucky chuckles as he sees his father nodding along to the sentiment and he figures that most people probably don’t visit other people in the hospital for longer than a couple hours.

“Jamie, are you having lunch with us today?” Marie asks, looking back at her brother. Bucky shrugs, glancing at Steve as if in permission. He doesn’t really want to leave Steve, but he does want to eat with his sisters since he rarely gets to spend much time with them anyway.

“Stevie, you good with me leaving?”

Steve makes an affronted noise. “I don’t own you Bucky. You’ve spent more than enough time here, anyway. Shoo. Get some fresh air or something,” Steve says, waving his hands in what Bucky assumes is a shooing motion. “I’m living vicariously through you for the time being.”

“Yeah, I know. Want me to bring anything back for you?” Bucky asks. Steve seemed too excited about the cookies and Bucky knows how disgusting hospital food is, even if you’re used to it. Steve chews on his lip for a bit before shaking his head.

“Nah, go spend the day with your family. I think I’ve spent more time with them than you, lately,” Steve says, winking at Bucky. Bucky scoffs, flipping Steve off behind his hand to shield it from Marie’s eyes. Anna’s too distracted by the various machines around Steve’s bed.

Steve gasps, too dramatic. “Not in front of the children, James,” he says, shaking his head and wagging a finger.

“Shush,” Bucky says, grinning. He lets Marie worm her hand into his grip and ducks his head, starting towards the door. He turns back. “Hey, doll, are you good with me bringing some of my friends tomorrow? They want to meet you.”

Steve arches a brow and shrugs. “Why not? Friends are the family you choose and you’ve met pretty much all my friends, so it’s only fair,” Steve reasons. Bucky nods, smiling and sending a text to Natasha. She responds in the next second with just ‘!!!!!’ which he assumes is a good thing, so he pockets the phone and bids Steve goodbye.

“You like him a lot, huh,” Winifred comments when they’ve reached the car. Bucky reddens and ducks his head.

“He’s-- nice,” Bucky says, feeling like a broken record. His voice is stilted and awkward. Marie and Anna both giggle at him like they’re calling him on his bullshit.

“It’s alright, son,” George says, smiling faintly. “We like him, too.”

“Us too!” Marie and Anna cry in unison, making Bucky jump and a rush of warmth blooms in his chest.

Bucky won’t admit that it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off his shoulders. It shouldn’t have since he’s not even sure if he’s going to see Steve after he gets out of the hospital or if Steve would even want to. There’s still a chance that Steve only tolerates him because he knows he can’t escape anywhere anyway. Well, he could tell Sharon not to let Bucky go up, but Steve isn’t one to let others fight his battles, Bucky can tell. Still, a spark of hope starts to creep into Bucky’s thoughts that maybe (maybe) he could know Steve after all this and Steve would want to.

***

“So this Steve kid….” Clint says, peering up at the looming hospital. Bucky rolls his eyes, tugging Clint along into the building. Between he, Natasha and Bucky, there’s enough dislike of hospitals to go around, but Bucky’s come to associate them with Steve which...yeah, that sounds asshole-ish. He’s okay with hospitals, though, because Steve’s there (yep, that doesn’t sound better). In any case, Clint had been really excited about this earlier, so Bucky doesn’t feel all that bad about forcing him into the hospital.

“Chill, Barton. He’s not scary and he’s probably, like, a hundred pounds,” Bucky says, pressing the button for Steve’s floor. There’s a different lady in the lobby who doesn’t bat an eye at Bucky or Clint or Natasha which is odd since they usually get weird looks whenever they go out together. Must be a nurse thing.

“You got a size kink we don’t know about?” Natasha asks casually, making Bucky choke on his spit.

“What the fuck, Tash,” Clint murmurs for Bucky and Bucky just points in Clint’s direction to signal that he agrees with the sentiment.

“Bucky.” He looks up and sees Bruce with a stack of charts in his arms. Bruce's eyes shift towards Clint and Natasha. “Bucky and friends.”

Natasha flashes Bruce a wicked smile, not unlike a cat that just caught a mouse— or a KGB agent that just caught sight of her hit— and Bruce smiles back warily. “Hi, I’m Natasha,” she purrs, letting a hint of seduction into her voice. Bruce pales and nods, scurrying off in the opposite direction as Natasha waves innocently at his back.

“Aww, you scared him away,” Clint says, pouting. “He was cute. In a nervous kind of way. Can you call him back?”

Bucky shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “God, why did I think this was a good idea?”

Natasha smiles in that pretty way Bucky has learned to be scared of and Clint shrugs, slinging an arm over Bucky’s shoulders. “Who knows, Buckybot. Let’s go meet your mans.”

Bucky barely gets the room number out when Natasha bursts into the room, quickly followed by an overly hyped Clint. Poor Steve.

“Guys, come back-- hey, Stevie,” Bucky says, stopping in his tracks when Natasha and Clint do. Steve is rubbing at his eyes and was obviously just asleep before Bucky’s friends dashed in there like madmen.

“Buck?” Steve croaks, looking around the room in a dazed sort of way. His eyes settle on Natasha and they widen. “Buck and others. Hi.” The tips of his ears start to redden and Natasha says something in Russian that Bucky barely catches.

“Damn, he’s pretty. Better keep him, Yasha.” Bucky rolls his eyes and goes to Steve, brushing his hair back from his face and grinning.

“These are my, uh, pretty much my only two friends: Natasha Romanov and Clint Barton. They can be intense, but don’t let that fool you. Clint’s a sweetheart,” Bucky says, smiling and hoping that Steve doesn’t notice that Bucky doesn’t say the same for Natasha. Natasha is...Natasha. She does whatever the fuck she wants.

“We can hear you, you know,” Natasha says dryly. Clint is pouting and Bucky sighs.

“I am become death,” Clint says dramatically, glaring at Bucky. Bucky arches an eyebrow in unison with Natasha and Steve bursts out laughing, snapping their attention to him.

“You guys are more fun than Sam and Bruce,” Steve says, smiling sheepishly. Bucky reels in the giant smile that threatens to split his face, managing to hide it from everyone but Natasha.

“You have a crush, Yasha. That’s embarrassing,” she says, Bucky barely catching the quick Russian again. It’s been a while. He elbows her in the side and grins at a confused looking Steve.

“Glad you like em, darlin,” Bucky quips, winking. Steve barely blushes and Bucky hates to think that he’s already built an immunity to Bucky’s charm after just a week. Guess he’s gotta start working harder.

Interestingly, Steve takes well enough to Natasha that Bucky is somewhat afraid for his sanity. She and Steve are in a deep conversation about ballet when Clint starts to complain about being hungry.

“Not it,” Natasha says, quickly followed by Steve and Clint who stare expectantly at Bucky.

Bucky sighs. “Fine. What do you guys want?”

When Bucky gets back with food in hand, he finds Steve and Clint and Natasha tuned to the Food Network and watching Cake Wars on a tablet that was magicked up from somewhere.

“Really, guys?” Bucky says, setting the food on the empty chair next to Steve’s bed. “You had to corner Steve and make him watch T.V. with you?”

“He likes it,” Clint says, grabbing the box filled with potstickers and handing them out. Bucky shrugs, settling into a chair to watch with them.

After probably five hours of just mindlessly switching between Food Network and Animal Planet, Clint decides that he has to go home which Bucky thinks is bull since he doesn’t think Clint has gone to his own house in years. He just lives with Bucky or Natasha or Tony all the time. He packs up his tablet and Natasha goes with him with a wink in Bucky’s direction.

“So,” Steve starts, picking at an onion pancake, “they like T.V.”

Bucky nods, shrugging like ‘what can you do’. “That’s all they do all day always. Sometimes I watch with them. Sorry if it was a lot.”

Steve shakes his head. “No one ever likes to watch Food Network with me. It was nice,” he says, grinning. Bucky groans because of course Steve likes Food Network. Who doesn’t? But that just means Bucky has one more reason to want to keep him.

“Hey, when do you get out of here?” Bucky asks, tapping his fingers on his thigh.

Steve raises an eyebrow. “Sounds like a bad pickup line, Buck.”

Bucky huffs, rolling his eyes. “C’mon, cut me some slack. You’ve been here for a while. Oughta get out soon, yeah? I kinda wanna see you in jeans and not in a dress. Not that you don’t look beautiful anyway.”

Yes, he realizes how completely obvious and blunt he’s being about his crush that he’s not and never has been in denial about.

No, he’s not going to stop.

Steve blushes, red, red, and he groans. “Bucky.”

“I’m just sayin, sweetheart,” Bucky says, grinning. “So what are we talking? Couple days? Next week?”

“Tomorrow, actually. I was going to tell you earlier, but Clint distracted me with Chopped,” Steve says, smiling fondly.

Something pangs in Bucky’s chest. “Huh. You got anyone picking you up tomorrow?” Bucky asks. He knows that the answer is probably ‘no’, but he just wants to make sure.

Steve shakes his head. “Nope. Sam might drop by to say goodbye, but he knows where I live anyway, so he can drop by anytime. Why?”

“Thinking maybe I could drop you off at home? Take you out first?” Bucky says, fidgeting nervously. Steve cocks his head to the side and he scrunches his nose.

“‘Take me out’? Like out of this world or to eat?” Steve asks, smiling funnily. Bucky raises an eyebrow.

“Cupcake, literally I just spent five days with you, give or take, and you think I’d want to take you out from a building or something? God, the sniper slander,” Bucky sighs, shaking his head with a disappointed look.

“I don’t like ‘cupcake. It’s worse than ‘babycakes’’,” Steve laughs, reaching out to flick Bucky’s wrist. “And you know that’s not what I meant. I didn’t even know you were a sniper anyway. That’s pretty cool. Means you’ve got...good aim.”

Bucky’s heard the joke before. Clint probably makes an innuendo out of their sniper abilities every other day, but Bucky’s never wanted something to actually come out of someone making the joke. ...That sounds a lot dirtier than he meant it.

“Kill me,” Bucky groans, putting his head into his hands. Steve cackles, patting Bucky’s head.

“Not before you take me to lunch!” Steve says and Bucky can hear the smile in his voice. He’s almost tempted enough by the thought of that alone to look up.

“Ugh, why are you like this?” Bucky groans, pouting as he peeks at Steve through his fingers. Steve’s smile is just as nice as he thought it would be.

Since Steve never actually answered if Bucky could pick him up the next day, Bucky just heads on over anyway with the car that he rarely drives. He nods to Sharon at the desk and pats Bruce on the shoulder when he passes by. Mostly he’s stalling. Steve might’ve left without him or something, but Bucky knows he’s just being stupid since Steve essentially said he didn’t have a ride and it’s not like he walked home. Probably.

He doesn’t expect the tight, tight jeans he’s faced with or the little clips in Steve’s hair that Sam must’ve brought for him. Steve is rummaging around in a bag, so he doesn’t notice Bucky walk in and startles when Bucky whistles.

“You clean up nice, sweetheart,” Bucky murmurs, delighting in Steve’s full blown blush. “I like the clips. Make you look sweet.”

“I’m not even cleaned up, Buck. I haven’t showered for two days,” Steve deadpans, zipping up the bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

“Whoa, where are you going?” Bucky asks as Steve sweeps past him. It’s weird to see him without the IV or the gown and with actual shoes on. A very (very, very) nice kind of weird.

Steve turns and raises a confused eyebrow. “You’re taking me to lunch, yeah? I already signed all the release forms and stuff, so we can go.”

Bucky’s eyes widen and he feels his face split into a large grin. “Yeah, of course.” Steve nods and lets Bucky lead him to the car by taking his hand.

“So, where to?” Steve asks when they’re settled inside.

Bucky hums. “How do you feel about Thai? Clint said it was good.”

“Sounds great. I’m starved,” Steve says, taking hold of Bucky’s hand over the console.

Bucky smirks at their joined hands. “Hey Steve.” He waits for Steve to look over. Steve looks vaguely surprised that Bucky used his actual name. “Is this a date?”

Steve shrugs, squeezing Bucky’s hand as they pull out of the hospital parking lot. “Duh. You’re paying this time and I’ll pay next, deal?” Bucky grins, nodding in agreement at the insinuation that there will be a next time. (Even though he has no intention of letting Steve pay next time either.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Name drop whoops :))
> 
> Thanks for sticking with this fic :D It would mean a lot to me if y’all left a comment or kudos if you liked it. 
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr @seamorered or twitter by the same name!
> 
> Have a fantastic day <3

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked this first bit! Second one should be up some time next week. 
> 
> Leave a comment or kudos if you want! They make my day :D As always, you can come over and talk to me on tumblr @seamorered
> 
> Have a good week and best wishes on exams if you've got em !!! (I do lmao and I'm suffering)


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